Overdose deaths during pandemic increase by 12%

Big increases in Schuylkill, Lehigh counties not reflected in numbers

HARRISBURG — In a shutdown-marred year where isolation poses a real threat to those in substance abuse recovery, delays in state acquisition of data are masking big jumps in overdose death numbers in Lehigh and Schuylkill counties.

Lehigh County Coroner Eric D. Minnich said 84 people died of drug overdoses in the first six months of 2020, an increase of 15% from last year, while a deputy to Schuylkill County Coroner Dr. David Moylan said there were 68 deaths in the first half of this year, up 41% from last year.

But state information given to The Morning Call by the Health Department showed both counties as having decreases during the first six months of the year.

That information also shows the state counted 2,352 overdose deaths through June 30, an increase of 11.7% from 2,105 in the same period a year earlier.

State Secretary of Drug and Alcohol Programs Jennifer Smith said there are built-in delays as coroners make final determinations on causes of death, and in reporting data on those deaths to the state.

Hence, its information showing decreases in Lehigh and Schuylkill may already be outdated.

“I think coroners were already really sick of us for the most part asking for this kind of data even before there was a pandemic,” Smith said. “Now they have got a lot more deaths on their hands and so they are even more sick of us asking for this kind of data.”

Officials have repeatedly stressed the threat to those with substance abuse problems posed by the isolation brought on by coronavirus-fighting mitigation orders and shutdowns.

“I have to imagine the pandemic is playing a role in some capacity,” Minnich said of overdose deaths in Lehigh County. “At some point, isolation has got to get to people. And if they have a history with substance use, they may fall back into the pattern.”

Moylan said it is possible part of the surge in deaths in Schuylkill County is tied to coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, but his office has not studied it.

Moylan said his county’s overdose death numbers are

“skyrocketing.”

Through the end of November, the total is 115, compared with 93 for all of 2019.

“This is going to be a record year, and I feel that the only way we can counter this is to treat it like an infectious disease,” Moylan said.

Northampton County also showed an increase in drug overdose deaths, according to information provided by the state, but county Coroner Zachary Lysek did not respond to requests for specific data Monday.

During a Dec. 8 online news conference, officials at Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Health Department expressed concern about overdoses during the pandemic but didn’t share specific counts on Pennsylvania drug deaths during 2020.

In a response to a Morning Call inquiry seeking specific death numbers, the Health Department said, “In Pennsylvania, with our decentralized coroner system, the coroners often will begin reporting data at the beginning of the next year. So, we do not have any official data at this point on drug overdose deaths for 2020.”

During the Dec. 8 news conference, however, Smith said she had overdose death data “in front of me” from January through June.

After the newspaper pointed that out, the state provided information that showed 2,352 overdose deaths statewide in the first six months of 2020.

The Health Department did not provide specific county-bycounty data, but shared a colorcoded map indicating whether each county had an increase or decrease during the first half of the year.

Both Lehigh and Schuylkill counties were marked as a “decrease.”

“It is extremely disturbing,” state Sen. Judy Schwank, a Berks County Democrat, said of the overdose situation. “We have taken our eye off the ball.”

Republican state Rep. Doyle Heffley of Carbon County said he thinks the increase in overdose deaths is related to the shutdowns.

Asked to elaborate, Heffley — who served on a drug problem-focused subcommittee in the House — said people are dealing with additional stress during the pandemic, and those who are susceptible to substance abuse issues are more likely to relapse.

Gov. Tom Wolf in January 2018 issued a 90-day disaster declaration for the opioid drug crisis, and has since renewed that declaration 12 times.